Stethoscopic instrument.



No. 734.159. PATENTED JULY 21, 1903.

R. G. M. BOWLES.

STETHOSCOPIC INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

27267? 6.330;. I [72 062x2 2 m naw UNITED STATES ROBERT C. M. BOWLES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STET HOSCOPIC INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,159, dated July 21, 1903.

Application filed February 2, 1903. Serial No. 141,423. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, ROBERT C. M. BoWLEs, a citizen of the United States, residing in Boston, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Stethoscopic Instruments, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to a stethoscopic instrument of that class in which a diaphragm is adapted to make contact with the body of the patient being examined, and has for its object to provide an instrument of increased utility. For this purposethe body of the instrument is provided on its opposite sides or faces with chambers of unequal area which are covered by diaphragms of unequal area, the smaller diaphragm being designed and adapted for use on the apices and interspaces and like parts of the body, which on account of their small area or formation can be more satisfactorily examined with an instrument having a diaphragm of a size substantially the same as the part to be examined, while the larger diaphragm is better adapted for use on other parts of the body when it is desired to examine a larger area than would be covered by the smaller diaphragm. These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 represents in side elevation an instrument embodying this invention; Fig. 2, a diametrical section of the instrumentshown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a like section showing the instrument in position for use when the smaller diaphragm is used; Fig. 4, a plan view of the instrument shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 a modification to be referred to.

In accordance with this invention the body portion (t of the larger instrument has socured or attached to its back the body portion I) of the smaller instrument, and I may prefer to make said body portions in one piece of brass or other metal; but I do not desire to limit my invention in this respect,

as they may be made in two parts secured together and of hard rubber, wood, or any other suitable material.

In the embodiment of this invention sh own in Figs. 1 to 4 the body portions a b are shown as circular'in form and are arranged concentric to each other; but I do not desire to limit my invention to this particular arrangement. The body portion a is provided with a recess 0, with which cocperates a diaphragm d to form a chamber 6, the said diaphragm being secured or held in place by a clamping-ring f, which may be screwed onto the body portion a or otherwise secured thereto. The body portion 1) is provided with a recess g, which is preferably made deeper than the rec ess c and with which cooperates a diaphragm h to form a chamber 1', the diaphragm h being secured to the body portion 1), as shown, by the clamping-ringj. The chamber 6 is provided with a sound-outlet, and the chamber t' is provided with a sound-outlet, and, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, these outlets are combined in one and form a passage is, which eX- tends through the body portions a b and is adapted to receive the end of a sound-delivery tube m, with which com municate the tubes leading to the ear of the physician, which latter tubes are not herein shown, as they are well understood and form no part of this invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the sound-delivery tube 'm passes through one chamber in order to communicate with the other, and for this purpose each of the diaphragms d 7L is provided with a central opening it. The sound-delivery tube may be screwed into the passage 7a, or, as is preferred, it may be frictionally engaged with the walls of said passage, and in the present instance the end of the tube is made tapering and the walls of the passage 7.: are made tapering in opposite directions from about the center of said passage.

In operation with the instrument shown in Figs. 1 to 4 the tube 1% occupies theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when it is desired to use the large diaphragm; but when it is desired to use the small diaphragm the tube on is Withdrawn from one end of the passage 7t and inserted into the opposite end, as shown in Fig. 3. It will thus be seen that the instrument herein shown comprises two instruments of difierent sizes, thereby avoiding the necessity of the physician carrying two independent instruments in order to make a' more satisfactory examination of different parts of the body. It further enables a single instrument having the functions of two instruments of different sizes to be sold at less than the cost of two independent instruments and provides the physician with an instrument which can be changed substantially in an instant from one of large size to one of small size, and vice versa.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4 the diaphragms d h are perforated for the passage of the sound-delivery tube; but I do not desire to limit my invention in this respect, as the invention is capable of embodiment in an instrument in which the diaphragms are imperforate for instance, as shown in Fig. 5, wherein the chambers e 2' are provided with outlet-passages 19, formed in the body portion of the instrw ment and into each of which the sound-delivery tube m is adapted to be inserted.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5 the body portion Z) is eccentrically located with relation to the body portion a.

I claim 1. An instrument of the class described, provided with a body portion having recesses in its opposite faces, diaphragms cooperating with said recesses to form chambers, and a sound-delivery tube adapted to communicate with said chambers, substantially as described.

2. An instrument of the class described, provided with a body portion having a recess in its front face and provided with a soundoutlet, a diaphragm covering said recess, a second body portion of smaller size attached to the back of the first-mentioned body portion and provided with a recess and a soundoutlet, a diaphragm covering the recess in said second body portion, and a detachable sound-delivery tube adapted to communicate with the sound-outlets in said body portions, substantially as described.

3. An instrument of the class described, provided with body portions of unequal area attached back to back and having recesses of unequal area in their front faces, a passage extended through said body portions and connecting said recesses, diaphragms covering said recesses and each provided with an opening substantially in line with the passage in said body portions, and a sound-delivery tube adapted to pass through the opening in each diaphragm and communicate with said passage, substantially as described.

4. An instrument of the class described, provided with a body portion having a plurality of recesses, diaphragms cooperating with said recesses to form a plurality of chambers, and means to cut off communication between said chambers to form independent instruments in a single body portion, substantially as described.

5. An instrument ofvthe class described, provided with a body portion having opposing recesses of unequal area and a sound-outlet for each of said recesses, and diaphragms of unequal area cooperating with said recesses, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT C. M. BOWLES.

Witnesses:

J AS. H. CHURCHILL, J. MURPHY. 

